The British are invading America yet again this weekend, as DG’s Tap House and London Underground will be honoring music and culture from across the pond on Friday and Saturday.

Influential is an understatement when it comes to describing the British Invasion’s impact on music in the United States. Artists from that era still capture the imagination of musicians everywhere, including those based right here in Iowa. 

This weekend, Rocky Raccoon, The Cherrypickers and D.I.M. will pay tribute to beloved music from the past. The Beatles, The Kinks, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd will all be honored in one way or another during the event.

The Invasion in Ames came together after local band, D.I.M., wanted to do a live show honoring the heavy metal group Black Sabbath.  

Guitar player of the band and manger of DG’s, Adam Brimeyer, described D.I.M. as a fun experience for he and his bandmates. 

“More than anything, it’s just a little side project to pay tribute to one of our favorite bands,” Brimeyer said. 

In the past, D.I.M. has covered Sabbath’s album “Paranoid” live. For this show, Brimeyer said that they will play earlier music from the famous rock band. 

“Back then they started off as a bar band, essentially playing around in small pubs,” Brimeyer said. “So, rather than go for huge grandevous kind of stuff, we went back. We like playing these original songs of theirs where they were basically just a group of four dudes playing music.” 

The Black Sabbath tribute show eventually extended into something bigger, as Brimeyer asked Beatles’ tribute band Rocky Raccoon to come and play at DG’s the same weekend. Then The Cherrypickers were added to the bill with their covers of songs by The Kinks.

The Cherrypickers have always been a cover band, but not primarily as an all Kinks one like they will be for the upcoming show. Their first gig was at a Halloween Party in 2015, where they performed ’90s music. Member Bryon Dudley described his performing experience with the band as loose, laid back and fun.

“It’s basically just like hanging out with your friends and jammin’ out on a bunch of songs that are fun,” Dudley said. 

Dudley mentioned that after a show at Deano’s last fall, the group was ready to do something else, and Brimeyer added them to the British-themed weekend.   

The band has tried to pick out a variety of music by The Kinks for this show. Dudley said it wanted to represent a broad spectrum of its music, and he mentioned that some of the songs have been challenging to learn.

“Some of the arrangements on some of these things ended up being trickier than we thought,” Dudley said. “If you listen to The Kinks, it sounds pretty straight forward, but there are some curveballs in there it turns out.”

Finally, Pink Floyd will also be honored this weekend through a tea party at London Underground, where Dudley will host a Jeopardy-like trivia game with questions about the famous progressive rock band.

Ultimately, Brimeyer expects the event will bring out a wide variety of music fans, and he hopes it will let the audience experience a famous time in history first-hand.

“One thing I really like doing is showcasing some of this stuff for people, just to make sure that it gets passed down, and that people get a chance to experience a portion of what it would’ve been like to grow up in that era,” Brimeyer said. 

The weekend will kick off with The Cherrypickers and Rocky Raccoon at 8 p.m. Friday at DG’s, and the party will continue at London Underground at 5 p.m. Saturday with the Pink Floyd Tea Party. D.I.M. will round out the event at 9 p.m. across the street at DG’s. Admission for both shows is $8 at the door.

To find out more about this show, and other upcoming concerts at DG’s Tap House, visit its website.